FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Message from Audubon Christmas Bird Count Director

["Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear CBC Participant

We are taking this opportunity to thank you for playing an important part in 
developing the Christmas Bird Count. For most of us, CBC is about birds and 
people. It's about finding birds, not finding birds, the ups and downs of 
numbers, and the always-memorable sightings each time we go out. In addition, 
most of us look forward to spending time in the field with friends and 
colleagues, some of whom we don't see from one CBC season to the next. Many of 
us enjoy the camaraderie of the post-CBC potluck dinner. Some of the finest 
food and company we have shared has been at our respective potluck dinners.

The CBC had its roots, as you well know, 105 years ago as a political and 
social activity, and the focus has changed a great deal over the years to face 
many challenges and opportunities. For example, the increase in participation 
from 27 to well over 50,000 people in more than 2000 locations is outstanding 
as we aim to improve our coverage of the continent and beyond. This requires a 
much more sophisticated management system, and offers us all the chance to do 
more with the information you provide.

Following the success of its initial political beginnings, the CBC has evolved 
into much more than a social event. Today CBC has an increasingly important 
role in monitoring bird species that are themselves subject to extreme 
pressures from development and habitat loss, as well as more insidious changes 
such as climate change. As you will have read last season in American Birds 
Vol. 58, through a partnership with the Patuxent Research Center we are able to 
analyze in much better ways the information you collect, using methods similar 
to those used for the Breeding Bird Survey data. In those instances where we 
have analyzed BBS and CBC results using the same methods, we have seen similar 
long-term trends in bird populations.

The importance of the CBC data is especially high when we look at species such 
as Harris's Sparrow and Northern Shrike, species that breed far to the north 
and are not well covered by the Breeding Bird Survey. Our analyses of these 
data give us population trend information for such species for the first time. 
Having good information makes assigning conservation priorities possible. 
You'll see CBC analyses featured in Audubon's next State of the Birds report as 
we come to understand population changes in some species for the first time 
thanks to your efforts.

We know you appreciate just how important CBC information is as we work 
together to conserve birds and their habitats.

It's one part of a picture that includes Audubon's Important Bird Areas program 
and our Audubon At Home initiative as well as a suite of other activities by 
partner organizations that help us all to develop action plans to ensure future 
survival of the birds of the Americas.

You may also have read the recommendations in the Report of a Review Panel in 
last season's American Birds, which has tasked Audubon with increasing the 
value of historic and future CBC data, and also promote the CBC as an education 
and outreach tool. Over the years we have sought to do these things through our 
website and to continuously improve your online experience, meeting your needs 
and those of the conservation community.

Resources (the time and expertise that money can provide) will determine the 
rate of progress on achieving the goals for CBC that the advisory group has 
set, which brings us neatly on to the issue of the $5 CBC participation fee. 
Most participants happily pay the $5 fee, and many donate additional funds. For 
a few, the fee is a major issue, a point of principal, and they refuse to pay 
it. All we can do here is to explain the fee and why it is so important to the 
running of the program, and what you can do.

The Science Division of Audubon runs the CBC as a self-sufficient program. The 
CBC does not benefit from any kind of guaranteed support, institutionally or 
otherwise. The 104th CBC had a budget of around $520,000, and of this around 
$200,000 came from fees. We raise the balance from donations, grants, and a 
range of fundraising activities. We are always searching for alternative 
sources of funding and welcome your specific ideas on those. Raising the 
balance is a task that CBC staff face every day.

Sometimes participants ask, "What do I get for my $5.00?"   The first and 
foremost result is the Christmas Bird Count program itself, from its 
international coordination and scope to its local importance and passion, and 
its contribution to bird conservation. Please also remember that as for the 
past four years, all participants who pay the $5 fee and supply their mailing 
address to their compiler receive a copy of American Birds magazine, as well as 
the promise that Audubon, with its partners, will continue to enhance the value 
of the efforts of participants across the Americas.

As we look ahead to implementing the recommendations of the Review Panel to 
improve the CBC experience for you we welcome your help. We welcome your ideas 
for financial support and your own donations, both large and small. Please 
contact us if you can help.

Sincerely,

Geoff LeBaron Paul Green

Director, Christmas Bird Count Director of Citizen Science
glebaron@xxxxxxxxxxx pgreen@xxxxxxxxxxx
(413) 268-9372 (215) 355 9588 ext 20
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Forward by:
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN